The Shadow in Exile
by Mr. Butler
Summary: Howdy, this is my newest story about Talon and his life before and during the League along with Riven and her back story. No pairings, (Yet, since I am iffy on pairings anyhow) You'll see several other familiar Champions but the focal point will be on Talon and Riven Reviews and Comments more than welcome )
1. Chapter 1

Another body dropped on the street, knife imbedded in the dead man's skull. A rose marked knife was the only thing to indicate why the man was dead. The killer continued walking away from the body, no longer interested of picking up more blades with the same markings, instead the man returned to the shadows. The Blade's Shadow works alone, and shall never submit to any authority besides his own. That was the path the Blade's Shadow took and that brought the death of several recruiters threatening him with either "death" or "service". Death was the popular choice, that was, for the recruiters.

The man, in reality, wasn't even a man but a boy no older than the ripe age of fifteen. The Noxus streets had associated the boy with the name "Blade's Shadow" for the boy was without equal with the blade and no guild or group have been able to control the boy. The Blade's Shadow did not care what he was called nor what his blades sank into, his only want was to survive and live another day. That was his life since the day he could remember. No family, no kindness nor any warmth could the boy recall in the dirty streets of Noxus and nor did the boy care of any trivial things such as those.

The boy moved swiftly through the streets, growing weary of challengers that possessed no strength or skill of his equal. Their bodies lying in the gutter and their knives adding to the boy's large collection of knives and if not, making the boy's cloak of blades longer. The boy smirked as he twirled a shuriken, for the past few days he had grown fond of using these type of blades and finding them from the bodies of dead assassins always brighten the dark day the Blade's Shadow was having.

"Fine litt-" the boy stopped short as he brought up his other hand with a dagger to block an incoming sword.

The boy quickly spun to the right, getting away from the sword, as he unleashed a wave of shurikens at the swordsman. The boy looked for his assailant and gaped at the skill of the swordsman. The Swordsman had the ability to deflect the majority of his shurikens in one block. The Swordman not only held one sword but also a dagger with his other hand. The boy couldn't see the Swordman's face, for he was covered with a cloak and cowl, but that didn't matter for the Blade's Shadow, only the strength and skill mattered during a fight. The boy dashed quickly to the left, keeping his distance, but the Swordsman closed the distance and the boy was forced to engage a match of strength. The boy didn't care, he had won several against several Swordsmans that assumed that he was not strong enough to engage so closely. They were dead wrong.

The Swordsman struck quickly with his sword hand but even as the boy came to block the Swordman's dagger came out quickly and caught the boy's dagger and quickly disarmed the boy. The boy took a step back pulling out two more blades from underneath his cloak but a foot snapped out and sent the boy sailing back before smashing into a wall. The wind was knocked out from him and both blades dropped on the ground with a clang. The boy looked up, to only see the Swordman's sword pointing at him. I lost the boy thought, disbelief was shown on his face.

"I am General Du Couteau and I offer the choice to either join me and live to serve Noxus High Command, or die here and now by my hand." The General asked.

"I'll serve," The boy responded, slowly standing up ", But only to the man that had defeated me." The boy knelt down before the General.

The boy remained quiet during the ride to the General's mansion. His eyes glaring at nearly every person he saw, disgusted with how Noxus treats the lower class. The boy believed that only the strong survived, but how could one get strong when not given the chance? The boy witnessed children dying on streets, perhaps months old and their parents murdered. The boy but could only watch as other vermin began to crowd the wailing child, slowly inching towards the tender bundle of flesh and bon-

"You're scaring the servants." The General said his voice low and demanding.

The boy was torn from his haunts and simply stared at the ground, he hadn't realized he was glaring at the doorman and then at the butler as he walked into the General's mansion. The boy gazed around the grand house; several pictures that the boy assumed were past generations of De Couteau and stopped to look at what seemed to be the most recent addition of potriats. The boy could tell due to the fact that the General was seen on the picture, standing with all his poise, next to him was a beautiful woman with long brown hair and beneath them were two very little children. The two daughters contrasted each other, one looked remarkably like their mother, soft face and perfect smile, with the exception of having blue eyes instead of her mother's green. While the other had fiery red hair and matched her mother's bright emerald eyes and had sharp features like her father.

"My daughters, Cassiopeia and Katarina. Katarina is turning thirteen soon and Cassiopeai just turned eleven." The General said, his voice softening greatly and the boy simply raised his eyebrow at the General.

"Their mother dead?" The boy asked bluntly.

The General's eyes harden as he stared into the dark brown eyes of the boy, which he flinched. "How could you possibly know that?" He asked, his voice once again hard as steel.

"The other paintings of you and your daughters do not include her, and this is by far the largest painting you have with your wife General. No disrespect General, I knew not my father nor mother and I doubt they bother to know me either." The boy responded flatly, no longer wishing to be stared down by the General he tore his eyes to stare at the floor beneath him.

"She is," Was his response. "Your bedroom, if you could follow my butler. I have other duties to intend to and I will call for you." With that the General left and the Butler stood waiting for the boy to follow him.

The butler opened the boy's room and quickly left him, possibly frighten of the boy without the presence of the General next him. The boy walked over to his bed, he had seen these before but never actually slept on once before, he took his only suitcase and stashed it underneath his bed. He was wearing only his normal purple cloak and badly ripped pants but the boy didn't care. He removed the covers from his bed and slowly began to cover himself before hearing a few tap noises above him. The boy quickly jumped off his bed and stalked towards his window. The noise was coming from the roof and the boy's first thought was that more assassins were coming for him to either recruit him or kill him. The boy opened the window and expertly threw himself upwards and climbed up to the roof. His eyes scanned the roof. The bright moon illuminating everything but to the boy's dismay he saw nothing out of place.

"You're in my spot." A small voice said.

The boy twisted around, shocked that he was once again caught off guard and saw a small child with red hair. Katarina stood before him; one of the General's daughter was on the roof with the boy.

"What are you possibly doing up here this late of night?" The boy asked. "You shouldn't be alone."

Katarina shrugged and sat down, she gazed up at the moon and stars, "You're with me, I saw you come in with my father and knew you were another servant of some kind." Katarina said, not disdain but in a naive child manner.

The boy simply sighed; he never killed without reason and sat down next to Katarina. He surely did not want to be found responsible if the General's daughter fell off the roof. "I serve your father yes, and you are Katarina correct?" the boy asked.

Katarina turned her head, her large emerald eyes reflected the moon's light, "Yes, I am Katarina De Couteau. And you are?" Katarina asked.

The boy shrugged, "Out in the streets I was called Blade's Shadow. I am known by no other name." The boy responded. The wind picked up and brought a chill, but the boy was accustomed to the cold, he slept in far worse conditions before. Something pushed into his side and underneath his cloak, the boy turned his head and saw that Katarina had moved closer to him. Her body was shivering to the new change of temperature, her eyes large as she looked up to the boy with a smile.

"I forgot my coat, and you remind me of a falcon with your hood and cloak!" Katarina said, her voice picking up near the end.

The boy nodded and out of pure reflex his arm wrapped around Katarina to still her shivers. The boy was surprised by this act of kindness, or he thought to himself that he was simply annoyed by her shivers. Katarina accepted the warm embrace and within another few moments of staring up at the starry night Katarina fell asleep. The boy thought about his looking like a "predator of the sky", possibly being called Eagle or Falcon would be interesting, but what made them to be the predator? "Talons," The boy said to himself. A small smile crept up on the corners of his mouth. _Talon sounds like a fine name to me_ The boy thought.

The boy noticed her and quietly picked her up, she was light enough for the boy to maneuver his way to the balcony where he assumed Katarina climb up from, since there was a makeshift ladder there as well. The boy jumped down, first landing on the balcony railing then jumped down on the balcony floor. Katarina barely moved in his arms and the boy quickly stepped inside and placed the General's daughter in her bed. He moved away from the bed and headed towards the door, he stuck his head out first and his body quickly followed suite.

He walked down the hall before nearly bumping into someone, he stopped short and noticed a bound of blonde hair and a pair of extreme blue eyes fixated on the boy's brown eyes. _The odd of meeting his other daughter _the boy mused.

"Can you help me? You are one of Daddy's new helpers right?" the girl that the boy knew was Cassiopeia.

The boy shrugged, "What kind of help?" he responded.

The girl's smile grew large as she quickly began to run towards the stairs but tripped on her long night gown. Cassiapeo giggled as she was picked up by the boy, the boy was certainly not going to let her walk down the stairs with her gown that long.

"Let me carry you downstairs and tell me what you want," the boy said as he began to climb down stairs.

"Hot Chocolate!" Cassiopeia cried out. Her large blue eyes were pleading towards the boy for her request.

The boy had no knowledge of what he should do as a grown up but simply shrugged and agreed to the girl's request. "Alright, to the kitchen I guess." The boy remembered one of the servants carrying a dish through a pair of double doors from his earlier moments of walking into the mansion. He pushed through the doors and walked over to one of the counters with an oven and sat Cassiapeo on it.

The boy walked over to the cupboards and quickly rummaged through the assortments of ingredients before coming across a few bars of milk chocolate. He pulled a small pot and poured a decent amount of milk into it, he heated the pot up and waited for the milk to get warm before dropping the bars of chocolate in. He mixed it so the chocolate wouldn't stick to the pot and waited for the white milk turn into a solid chocolate colored drink. He pulled out two mugs as the Hot Chocolate cooled and poured both mugs. He held one to Cassiapeo, which she readily accepted.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Cassiopeia cried out as she began to chug the drink.

The boy chuckled softly and nodded as he began to drink his own creation. "Learned it from watching a few cooks," the boy explained. Which was half true, he watched them as he snuck a few bars of chocolate from underneath their noses.

Cassiapeo couldn't afford to muffle a sound as she was too engaged in her Hot Chocolate to say anything but after a few gulps she managed to shine a smile. "It tastes really really good um. . Mister?" Cassiapeo began.

"Talon, call me Talon Miss Cassiopeia." Talon responded.

"Talon! And you can call me Cass now since you have become my personal Hot Chocolate maker friend!" Cass said, her child like enthusiasm was almost intoxicating for Talon, he never seen so many smiles in his entire life on the streets. He barely smiled at all, only rarely after a successful kill granted him a cool knife.

"I serve your father first Cass, but if you ask me nicely I will make you Hot Chocolate whenever I can," Talon responded back with a small smile. Talon surprised himself with how easy he was handling these children, perhaps by some memories of kindness to swim through all the murky darkness Talon had in his head. Or perhaps he simply wanted to remove images of horrors done to children like Cassiapeo or Katarina from his mind. The streets of Noxus were not kind to the weak or defenseless, they were hardly kind to Talon either.

A/N: I think I may have changed Talon's character way to quickly in this chapter but then again people are different when with Children. Also about the ages, I assume Talon is older than Kat (Kat is older than Cass) because I doubt the General would had picked up Talon if he wasn't already skilled and that comes with years of practice and why would he want an assassin when he has Kat? My answer is that Kat was far too little to begin training as an assassin just yet.

And Riven will come later in the next chapter, but in her own world. I am not sure how I plan on having them meet before the League starts or even if I plan to.


	2. Chapter 2: Understanding Promises

The field laid in ruins, broken blades littered the practice field along with three crumpled trainers groaning in pain from their wounds received during their evaluation of 'Talon' but their headmaster stood tall and unscathed after the training session. The practice field though lay in the middle of the most grand garden Talon had ever seen before. He had never seen so much nature in once place; out in the streets he would see the occasional weed. This was by far something new to Talon and wondered what else the lower section of Noxus was deprived of while the richer members were able to enjoy. The Headmaster stood with a disapproving gaze but a small glint of satisfaction shined through as the limping form Talon continued to limp away towards the Mansion.

Talon breathed in deep, fighting the tears of pain back. He never before cried from pain, in fact he could not remember even crying once before during his time out in the streets. But this notion of 'crying' was not going to help him become stronger and thus Talon refused to allow his body this moment of weakness. He may had bested the Headmaster by disarming him but the Headmaster still managed to nearly destroy his left ankle with a nasty kick near the end of their training. He was allowed two days of minor training, which was exactly the same from all the other days but minus the leg workouts.

Talon sighed, he had managed to walk several steps to reach his floor but his room was on the other side of the wing. He began to limp towards his room when he stopped as two small figures nearly bum rushed at him, Talon side stepped towards his right as both of the tiny De Couteau girls tumbled behind Talon. Katarina lay on top of Cassiopeia, giggling that they both missed to tackle Talon. Talon raised an eyebrow at their sudden appearance and silently hoped they simply wanted to say "Hi" and leave him to reach his room and rest.

"Talon! Talon! Talon! Talon! Talon! Taaaloooon!" Cassiopeia cried out rapidly, her last cry of his name held out longer as she stood up quickly to address her new friend.

"Talon!" Katarina interjected also, standing next to her sister.

"Yes?" Talon asked, quite unsure of what to make of their outburst. Though slightly annoyed he couldn't possibly use his snarky voice at the De Couteau daughters. Their large round eyes and soft face made Talon want to see both girls happy. Some beauties in life Talon wanted to preserve for eternity.

"We were kinda wondering if you, you-" Cassiopeia began.

"You would like to play a game with us!" Katarina said, finishing her younger sister's sentence.

Talon raised his eyebrow again, "Um, you want me to play a game with you two?" Talon asked. He never actually played games before; he saw other kids play with balls and with each other but never really felt the need or urge to join in their fun. It was possibly because he was always trying to survive and steal food.

"YES! Our servant and maid are getting too old for us to play games. They are nice and all but they can't play with us like they use to and you are fast and stuff! We saw you practice outside a few times." Katarina explained to him. She was obviously impressed with his skill during practice, though why she was observing Talon's training was a mystery to Talon.

"I never actually played a game before in life," Talon confessed, "So I'm not actually qualified to play with you girls." He added.

"That won't do! That won't do at all! We must educated you in the way of games and fun! We must!" Cassiopeia said, her voice rising to that of haughty like her father. "Katarina, Talon will learn to play at least one game today. It is our duty as a De Couteau." Cassiopeia added.

Katarina nodded, her arms crossing over on her chest. "Talon, I Katarina and my sister Cassiopeia will teach you how to play. . .um. . .Hide and Seek!" Katarina said. Cassiopeia nodded and squealed in delight at the chosen game that her older sister picked.

Talon chuckled, and wondered what he had gotten himself into. The throbbing pain in his left ankle remained and he silently prayed that this "Hide and seek" game required very little physical strain. "Alright then, how do we play 'Hide and Seek'?" Talon asked the girls.

"First one of us has to decide who is 'it', then the rest must hide as the person who is 'it' counts to twenty. The person who is 'it' must find the others that are hiding and once the person who is 'it' finds everyone the game is over and the first person who is found becomes 'it' and the whole thing starts over again!" Cassiopeia explained. Katarina nodded at her sister's explanation and looked at Talon for any questions.

Hiding, that required certain degree of movement and Talon hoped he wouldn't be this 'it' person for the game. "Alright, I got it. But we can only play one game because I need to rest and get up early for tomorrow's practice." Talon said.

The girls nodded, their innocent eyes betraying their intent of keeping Talon with them forever playing games. If Talon could shiver, he would shiver at the thought of being chained in either one of their rooms. Pink, too much pink. "Okay, Katarina will be 'it' since she is the most skilled and be warned Talon, we have been playing for a long time and know almost all the cool and neat hiding places." Cassiapeo said.

Katarina turned around and placed both arms on the wall and leaned her head on her arms and began to count. "One, two, three, four-" Katarina began. Cassiopeia squealed in delight and booked off somewhere in the mansion. Talon widen his eyes and quickly hobbled off somewhere down the hallway. He turned left into another hallway and searched desperately for an open door, unsure of what door it lead into Talon rushed in. He looked around and to his dismay he found himself one of the General's Study rooms. He sighed as he looked around; viewing the vast amounts of bookcases with several shelves and books. He moved towards one of the bookcases and climbed up towards the ceiling. Talon reached for the ceiling and grabbed on to one of the supporting beams of the ceiling. He hoisted himself up and pressed with all four limbs on either side of him to hold himself up between the two support beams. Now he waits.

Moments passed and turned into minutes. Several minutes, and soon Talon felt his muscles began to cramp from the strain of holding himself up. Perhaps if he had been well rested before the start of the game Talon might have been in a better position but now Talon simply held on. A sound of scampered feet trotted down the hallway then a sound of the door creaking open. Talon stiffened and held his breath. Katarina looked thoughtful for a few moments, looking around and walked towards her father desk. She checked underneath the desk and huffed in disappointment. Talon smiled but suddenly his left ankle cried in pain, Talon gulped in the cry and fought back the tears. His ankle slipped.

With a thump, Talon crashed near the desk on the spot where Katarina was just moments standing before. He groaned softly as he looked over his shoulder. He lost his leg's support and could not simply keep himself up with just three of limbs. Katarina quickly moved towards her fallen friend and helped Talon up. "You're funny Talon. Haven't thought about looking up!" Katarina said, her face shinning with a smile. Despite the pain Talon smiled too.

"Aye, kinda slipped up that. You found Cassiopeia, Katarina?" Talon asked.

As if she heard his question the small head of blond curls bounced inside the room. Cassiopeia smiled brightly and nodded, "Kat is a very good seeker Talon! She found you too!" Cassiopeia explained.

Talon laughed and stood up, "It seems so, well it has been very fun Miss Cassiapeo, Miss Katarina." Talon said as he moved towards the door.

"Talon you can call us Cass and Kata you know." Katarina said.

"In fact you must call us that for now on Talon." Cass said, her haughty voice being used once more.

Talon mussed it over a few moments and nodded, "Alright Cass and Kata. Perhaps we can play some different games once I rested." Talon said as he walked outside the room and towards his room, which was now closer since he ran down the hall in the general direction of his room. Kata and Cass quickly followed Talon out and walked on either side of him.

"You promise?" Cass asked, her eyes large and begging.

"You should never make a girl a promise you can't keep." Kata added, her eyes large too and seemingly curious if Talon would keep his promise.

"Yes and yes." Talon said, he offered both a smile and waved to each as he entered his room. He shut the door and quickly collapsed on his bed. No longer able to stand he simply decided to sleep with his clothes on but took off his hood and hugged his pillow tightly. Yes, he certainly would keep his promise to both Kata and Cass.

A/N:

Sorry about this filler chapter. Turkey strike and didn't want to push the plot so I decided to relive one of the most enjoyable games I played with my cousins when I was little. Hope you enjoy :3 Next chapter will be more angsty and plot wise. Chapter 4 will finally introduce Riven and Talon shall be forgotten for that chapter sadly, but will come back either Chapter 5 or 6, I still have several notes and such to look over of how I want to intertwine the two characters. Comment and Review please! I enjoy all and any pairing ideas is most welcome. Since you are the reader and the one enjoying the story I feel as if you should have some choice of how the character should love or not


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: No turning back

Several, several years later. . .

If there was something that could scare a man such as Talon it would be uncertainty. Uncertainty and craziness. He had dealt his fair share of both stupidity and insanity but it still had not prepared him for what he was hunting. Some crazed maniac dressed as some Court Jester has begun to run amok in Noxus streets. The mass murderer was the definition of insanity and Talon hated to deal with unknown variables and sporadic actions. Talon had given up on his hunt for this mad man; it was not an assignment but simply a "If you happen to make time" order from the General himself. No doubt he wanted Talon to simply focus on the main target rather than go on some wild goose chase. That is, if the goose was some ego maniac that enjoyed stabbing people just for the fun of it.

Talon had no more time to spend on the chase and decided to leave this killer as a job for the Noxus army. He had heard of rising stars in the military and as well as a fallen angel had made herself home in the City State of Noxus. He only met few beings outside from the De Couteau family and their servants, such as General Jericho Swain and Lord General Darkwill. He never associated himself with Military at large, only stealing glances from the soldiers from time to time when General De Couteau would make visits to the barracks and Talon simply became the General's shadow during the visit. There was this woman with pure white hair and tan skin that caught Talon's eyes, mostly her sword that she carried. It was larger than Talon himself. She was a person that Talon certainly did not wish to test strength against.

He sighed to himself as he continued his journey back to the mansion. He had been gone for nearly three weeks, perhaps on the longest absences he had ever been on, he could imagine the trainer's relief and the Headmaster's chuckle at the happy trainers that no longer needed to be practice dummies for Talon. _They still have to deal with Katarina _Talon mused silently, the little girl with fiery red hair had turned into a fine assassin, perhaps equal to that of Talon himself. He conceded though that her own special skill, nicknamed "shunpo", was deadly effective when closing in on targets and escaping than Talon's own "cut throat" leap was not nearly as fast or effective. Talon chuckled at the fond memories Katarina and he himself had when training once together months earlier. They had developed a fair degree of skill and began to name moves, Katarina suggested that Talon's bleed move be named "Noxian Diplomacy" and in response Talon nicknamed Katarina as the "Sinister Blade" for coming up with some of the deadliest names for one another.

Talon walked near by a restaurant the aroma hit him hard, he surprised himself by this action. He hardly had any effort to reduce his urge for food, growing up on the streets a piece of cheese with the mold only covering half of it was a treat. Perhaps the years spent under the roof of De Couteau had made food such a common item. He had no favorite food, but Talon noticed that his mouth watered a tad whenever the mention of Chicken Alfredo was made in conversation with the cooks. Talon couldn't resist a faint smile, a memory of Cass learning how to cook a few years back. Talon had accidently ran into the kitchen and saw Cass frustrated with a layer of flour covering more than half her body. Talon raised his eyebrows and quietly inquired of Cass's less than perfect appearance. She mentioned how some new diplomat was attracted to pretty women who can cook and Noxus needed some new information about the man. Talon couldn't resist a chuckle and only received glares and a hurt face of Cass, in which Talon quickly apologized for his outburst. Cass had asked if she could make something for Talon and before he could think twice Talon had blurted out "Chicken Alfredo" and Cass smiled widely and searched through the cabinets to look for the cookbook.

To say the least Cass's cooking speed was very fast, in perhaps a few hours Cass had ordered Talon to come down and try out her chicken Alfredo. Talon assumed that he had stomached any kind of foods in the streets and thought that this would be nothing. A few bites in and Talon realized he was dead wrong, even with his will power he could not but help show a slight green tint in his face. Cass was horror stricken and heart broken and Talon spent the next three hours cooing and easing Cass's hurt feelings.

A small tear trailed down Talon's face as he continued his walk, those memories happened before Cass was turned into a half snake half woman. How Talon had been surprised and sadden with Cass, she was so happy and joyful when with him. Now she barely even smiles and when she does it had a cold shiver behind the smile. A bitter life Cass had ended up living. Talon forced himself into a run to quickly shorten the time to get to the mansion.

Talon decided to give the trainers and his headmaster a headache and opted to go through the back entrance of the estate. He made quick work of maneuvering through the walls and quickly hid in the shadows of the orchids. The sun was setting and Talon hoped that he had enough shadows to mask his presence. Strangely enough Talon moved through the orchids easily and without trouble, in fact Talon grew curious of this and searched out the guards and the training assassins that would patrol these grounds. He couldn't find a single soul. Fear struck Talon like nothing else, he sprinted his way to the mansion and quickly gave a sigh of relief upon seeing the Headmaster standing tall and gazing around the De Couteau estate and training grounds.

"Talon, you're back." The Headmaster said, his voice low and solemn, as if dread filled this man.

Talon hesitated, he slowly moved towards the Headmaster and nodded slowly, the General had picked this man for his brutal training regimes and could possibly be a top assassin if not for his urge to train then to rather master his own skills. "I have, what has happen to the guards and other trainers? The General would be most displease to see his estate so unguarded." Talon asked.

The Headmaster raised one eyebrow and his face fell upon some realization that Talon could but only guess what. "Talon. . .I have forgotten you were away, you see the General. . .has disappeared. Presumed dead." The Headmaster responded.

Talon simply stood there, his face harden as ever and his mind trying to understand what had just been said. General Marcus De Couteau dead? Impossible for Talon to believe that such a man like the General could had simply been killed. Even after years of service and training Talon had not thoughts that he was anywhere near the level of the General and doubted even with Katarina's help neither could best the General in combat. "Katarina and Cassiopeia? How do they fare?" Talon finally asked, his mind back in some order.

"Cassiopeia now remains locked in her room, she has not once visited the gardens. Katarina has become elusive and I have not yet seen her since the news. Possibly hiding in the shadows and dealing with her grieving alone." The Headmaster said.

Talon nodded, but something else bothered him, "But the guards and trainers? By Noxus law Katarina now owns the mansion and estate." Talon asked.

The Headmaster opened his mouth but stopped to weigh his words, "She is but has yet taken her role. Noxus High Command has taken her show weakness and began to strip nearly everything that made the General such a feared assassin. The trainers and myself included will now train assassins for Noxus High Command personally rather than through General Marcus, they possibly want me to make caliber assassins such as you Talon and Katarina." The Headmaster said, his hand reached out and patted Talon on the shoulder, "As if I could, if I could somehow make an assassin with a fifth of the skill you possess Talon I would be honored." The Headmaster added before turning around to possibly finish packing.

"See you later Blade's Shadow. May your blades always be true." The Headmaster said, his farewell to the feared assassin Talon.

"Good bye, Headmaster." Talon said in response.

Talon moved quickly inside and ascended up the stairs to reach his room. True to the headmaster's word the Mansion was deserted of both servants and butlers. Inside was dark, only a few lights remained lit and Talon maneuvered his way up the stairs. He felt a cold shiver and before Talon could react he nearly bumped into something. Talon's eyes adjusted quickly and realized he had ran into Cassiopeia's tail. Cassiopeai turned her head quickly and her shocked expression stayed frozen on her face. Talon stood there as well, still and unsure of what to do. They had not spoken in months since her transformation and now Talon was without words.

"Talon" Cassiopeia said slowly, breaking the silence between them. She rushed the man and wrapped both arms around Talon, her tail slithering closer to her body.

Talon returned the embrace, and though she was a cold blooded now Talon wish nothing more than to keep the warmth between them to last forever. He pulled himself slightly off to take a good luck at Cass and Talon stared into her eyes. Her eyes were no longer blue, but shined bright white but Talon looked passed her scales and transformation and remembered the little girl with large blond curls that would bounce, her voice of laughter and joy whenever Talon would play "Darkwill Says", "Hide and Go Seek" or "Demacia Fall downs" . How Talon wished for those years back for Cass, he felt something warm when he embraced Cass tightly, his cheek felt a warm tear. Cass slowly moved apart and sniffed as she began to wipe her tears away.

"I miss him Talon, I miss father." Cass said, her voice soft and so little.

Talon nodded and reached out to give her a reassuring hold on her shoulder. "I am sorry." Was all Talon could muster. He had never known his true mother or father, but General Marcus seemed like a perfect father to Talon.

"Are you-are you leaving?" Cass asked, her voice filled with fear and uncertainty.

Talon was taken aback at her question, he shook his head. "Your father has given everything to me, I must seek those responsible for his disappearance and protect you Cass, and Katarina." Talon responded.

A small smile invaded Cass's grim face, "T-thank you, Talon." Cass said as she slowly moved towards the staircase.

Talon moved quickly and placed a hand on Cass to motion her to stop. Cass looked at Talon curious, before she could respond she felt herself being risen from the floor as Talon picked her up. Talon certainly was strong, but Cass was a lot heavier since she was turned into part snake but Talon refused to let her slither down the staircase. "Let me walk for you Cass, you need to keep your strength for these next weeks," Talon said.

Cass simply nodded and buried her face into Talon's shoulder and wrapped her snake tail around Talon's waist, not tight but to simply not let her tail drag on the ground. Talon continued to walk down the stairs and pushed through the double doors with his back as he walked into the kitchen. He slowly let Cass down as he began to search for pieces of chocolate and milk. He poured it into a bowl and quickly heated up the milk. He stirred the contents together and in perhaps minutes later Talon offered Cass a mug of hot chocolate. Cass's smile crew larger and once she began to sip the contents inside her mug her smile grew larger and Talon smiled because her glow was back from when she was little. Talon picked up Cass once more, her hand still clutching her mug of hot chocolate as Talon walked towards Cass's room. Talon laid her on her own bed and brought a blanket to cover Cass. Her hand reached out and pulled Talon closer to her, Talon inclined his head down to be eye leveled and before Talon could say a word warm lips kissed his cheek. His cheeck's quickly redden at the kiss and Cass let go of her reach on Talon.

"You are the only man I would never seduce to get the chance to kiss Talon, you are so much more." Cass said softly, her head slowly turning away and slowly dropping on her pillow. Her eyes fluttering close and Talon simply stood there as Cass slept. Talon dropped his head and softly planted a kiss on Cass's forehead.

"And you Cassiopeia are still beautiful, even if you don't see yourself as, you far stronger than I because of your hardships." Talon said softly, he walked out of her room and slowly shut the door. Talon could not believe how this could happen and then Talon began to search the mansion for Katarina. The Headmaster had spoken to him that she has yet made herself known to anybody since the news of her father's apparent death and disappearance.

Talon searched her room and quickly looked through several study rooms and guest rooms. He could not find the woman and Talon sighed deeply, then a thought struck him. He quickly ran into his room and opened the window. He jumped up and grasped the ledge of the roof and quickly pulled himself up. And there she was, Katarina De Couteau was simply sitting on the roof gazing at the stars in the night sky. Talon noticed that Katarina has yet changed into anything but her skimpy assassin outfit. Talon walked over to her and sat down next to the red hair woman. She barely took notice of the man and simply turned her head ever so slightly to acknowledge his presence. Talon simply wrapped his arm around Katarina's shoulder, along with cloak, and pulled her in close into his embrace. Talon but could only remember the large emerald eyes, and now Katarina still had her eyes but had a scar running down her left eye. It was a battle mark, a war scar, one that Katarina wore proudly. Talon offered a small smile and used both arms to pull the grieving girl closer to him. Talon had never felt such pain as this before and but could only guess at how she felt about her father's disappearance. Damn him if Talon would ever think that the general was dead. "Kata, it's okay to cry."

Tears fell on both assassins, their cold exterior broken by feelings of pain and of comfort of one another.

A/N:

A Tad long I know, but I needed to finish this part of Talon :/ Perhaps I may of made Talon too emotional or fluffy. *shrugs*

Also cookies to those that can guess what champs I was talking about in the start. (Too easy I know :P)

Please I enjoy any comments and reviews. I know I am not the best writer in the world but it certainly means a lot to me to know how I can improve to bring further enjoyment to my readers.

And Next chapter will be on Riven! Yeah! Bunny powers! :3


	4. Chapter 4: White and Fluffy

A bundle of long white hair ran through a bush chasing after something else white and fluffy. Giggles escaped the little girl's mouth as she chased down a bunny. The bunny to its credit was not having much difficulty escaping the little tan girl's grasp. The girl sadly was not agile or quick as the bunny, she tripped over an root sticking out, she tumbled forward and a few moment she dusted herself off. She gave a small "hmph!" as she inspected her torn up dress. It was too long to be of any use to chase anything and with that in her mind the girl reached downward and began to tear off much of the dress off before it was barely passing her knees and with a satisfied smile she began to run after the white fluffy bundle of joy once more.

"Hold on Mr. Bunny!" The girl shouted as she moved as quickly as her legs would carry her through the thicket of bushes and trees.

More giggling ensued as the girl was able to maneuver much easier now with a shorter a dress. To the bunny's dismay, she was catch up fairly quickly. As if the girl knew she was faster she dashed forward and lunged for the bunny. The girl tumbled to the ground once more, she slowly opened up her hands a to her disappointment there was no bundle of white furry fluffiness in her arms. The bunny leapt forward at the last second and now was moving underground in the hole it had dug underneath the wall of the estate. The girl gave a small pout and sighed softly as she stood up and shook off the dust and dirt from her dress and body.

"Mum isn't going like this," the girl's fear escaladed quickly, her previous joyful distraction quickly forgotten. The girl made haste to get back to her mansion quickly.

As if her luck could not get any worse, the girl saw her mother right outside the entrance of their garden. She was of much lighter skin tone but her hair was as white as the girl's own and her eyes were of the pure and deepest hue of blue. She was far from pleased, and quite possibly nearing that to rage. As if her mother's eyes were about to ignite the poor little girl, the girl shuffled her feet closer to her mother with her head inclined. "Mother," Was all she said to her. Her eyes still stared into the ground instead of facing the glares of her mother.

"Riven! What have I told you!" Riven's mother yelled, she gave a "hmph!" as she walked over to Riven and inspected her closely. "And look at you! Dress torn! Scratches all over your arms and legs! You hair has leaves and twigs in it!" Riven's mother continued her rant about Riven's appearance for several moments longer.

"I was chasing a bunny, it looked soft and cuddly," Riven's small voice said, trying to add to her defense. For some reason, Riven's response did not placate her mother.

"Go inside! Get cleaned up and be downstairs in an hour. You have your studies with Madame Muya." Was all her mother said and began to hush Riven inside their home.

Riven needed not to be told twice, anything to escape her mother's disapproving glare. Her footsteps echoed through the hallways that lead to her room. She dashed inside and with a flick of her foot her door was shut closed. Riven sighed softly, she slouched a tad as she made it over to her bed and landed on her back in her bed. "Mother can be so overprotective," Riven said out loud, she turned over on her belly and fiddled with a pillow as she pondered on what do. She certainly did not want to upset her mother any further by being late for her studies with Madame Muya. So Riven scanned her arms and legs and winced slightly at the several scratches that covered her limbs. She knew as soon as she stepped into the warm water with soap the starches will sting terribly. Rive kicked off her now useless shoes and gathered her bath things to wash herself up. _If I didn't feel them as I got them I can handle them as I wash them_ Riven mused.

Riven scolded herself in the mirror, she was now clean and fresh with a similar dress she had worn back in the garden. It was long and loos fitting with several designs that represented each status of her family has in the Noxus hierarchy. She disliked wearing long flowery dresses, as well as the color pink. Why pink!? Why always pink with mum!? Were all the thoughts that racked Riven's mind. Her hair was still a long white wet mess but Riven simply shrugged and grabbed another towel to finish drying her hair off. She turned her head to glance at the clock and sighed deeply that she still had another twenty minutes before her studies began.

A bit while later footsteps were echoed the hallway, the sound was coming from a bored looking Riven as she reached the stair way her pace quickly picked up as she descended down towards the hall. Riven moved towards her study room and sat down on the only chair provided. Her instructor was already waiting there for her, Madame Muya. The Madame was far from pretty, in Riven's eyes, and upon their first meeting she thought the Madame was a Man-dame. But unlike what Riven expected, Madame Muya was not a terrible instructor, simply a boring one. Madame Muya fixed her blouse a tad, though Riven could not understand what needed to be fix, and Madame Muya cleared her throat to indicate that her lesson was about to start.

"Now Miss Riven, it has been known, and will mostly likely always be, that the Noxus way of life is of that of strength. That through strength, those with enough of it, will survive. And as such, we as women must either rise to the strength needed to survive or marry a man of strength to successfully survive for the both of you. . ." Madame Muya began.

Riven gave little attention to her instructor during the lesson, having heard several different versions of it already. She no longer wished to hear such trivial things about Noxus way of life and such. Riven simply wanted to experience more of what was out there, and certainly not marry someone else to do it for her. She was far from weak and wanted to prove so by joining the Noxian Military. Her older brother had all the fun with sword training and outdoor play with either father or some trainer and Riven found that to be quite unfair.

As if time could possibly stretch out any further and the clock could not possibly move any slower for poor Riven, her hour with Madame Muya was finally up. Riven inclined her head once towards Madame Muya in respect and nearly bounced out of the room and towards the garden once more. Riven moved swiftly through the Garden and moved towards another part of the estate, into the training grounds. Riven turned her head back to see if her mother was anywhere near but as if her luck continued to go unchanged she smacked into something and took the something down with her to the ground.

"Hey!" the something cried out, and Riven realized that it was her older brother Raven.

"Whoopsie! Sorry Rav, didn't see you there." Riven quickly apologized as she stood up and dusted off her dress.

Raven shook his head, he stood back up and with his two inches over Riven he gave a shrug. "It seems you haven't developed eyes in the back of your head, so I suggest you keep looking forward as you run Riv, and what in Darkwill's name are you doing here? Mother will not be pleased." Raven said.

Riven gave a small smirk and nodded, "She doesn't know I'm here, and I just got out of my lessons and I want to see the trainers fight. Please brother! You know I'm good with a sword!" Riven pleaded.

Raven simply chuckled and shrugged, "Yeah, right sis. Well follow me, the trainers are done with me for today and father sent off somewhere." Raven said.

Both siblings entered a building outside from the estate. Inside were several pads and the floor and walls were padded as well. Practice swords littered the ground, some broken some heavily used and some looked brand new. Riven eyed her brother and in response Raven picked up two practice swords and tossed one towards Riven. She caught it easily enough and her eyes pleaded an explanation from her brother.

"Well this is my old practice room, you remember, and sadly father won't do anything with you without mother's approval so I'll be here to help you train your sword skills and get your little arms a workout." Raven said, his signature smirk smacked on his face.

Riven huffed, but nodded all the same. "Fine Rav, but I am far from weak. You'll see!" Riven said as she charged towards her brother with blinded fury.

Raven side stepped to his left and deflected as well as redirected Riven's trajectory and she smashed into a padded wall. A small groan escaped her lips but Riven quickly got up and faced her brother again. Her sword clenched tightly in her hands, she moved forward, this time with less ferocity and opted to go toe to toe with her brother's skill with the sword. She swung to the right and once to the left, each stroke of her sword had all of Riven's strength delivered into it. As if Riven intended to smash her brother's sword into pieces as one would with a hammer and glass. Raven deflected each blow with ease and grace. He was slightly impressed with his sister's strength but disgusted by her form and grace. Raven flicked his sword forward and twisted his wrist to one side and back again, Riven's sword came flying off somewhere and now Raven held his practice sword's point at Riven. Riven though did not concede defeat instead she ducked and dashed forward and gave her brother a punch in the guy. Raven was caught off guard and did not even fathom the thought that she would do anything else surrender. Raven's air was knocked out of him and Riven kicked him down as she tore free his own sword and with it she pointed it at her brother who laid on the ground.

"It seems I one my brother dear," Riven said sheepishly.

Raven gave a short laugh "Yeah, but-" before he said another word he flipped himself over and latched on to Riven's foot and pulled her sideways and yanked himself up as he pushed his sister down and twirled her arms behind her. "You still have much to learn, but for now we must get ready for my birthday little Riven, I only turn thirteen once, as so do as you." Raven said as he lifted up her sister.

Riven gave an amused smile, "You're only a few minutes older than me anyhow, come on let us make haste. I smelled chocolate and vanillia this morning as I-um. . . took stroll down to the kitched," Riven said, her cheeks slightly blushing.

Raven laughed and nodded, "Yes, I do believe your stroll bared fruit I hope? Or something as sweet as a fruit?" Raven asked and for his trouble Riven punched him again but this time on his shoulder.

A/N:

Yes I am very early with this chapter and I will go over it for grammar issues later but Finals are approaching too quickly and I fear I won't have enough time to fully have this chapter posted by then so I'll give you about 80% of my original chapter and the next will include the other 20% and some hidden surprises. I hope you enjoy this chapter! :3 Mr. Bunny requires carrots, but I wish for you enjoyment and reviews/comments are more than appreciated here!

Also I like a Riven Talon pairing. . .but like I said, I am here to please my readers. ;) Shucks I think a Fiora and Talon would be fun to write too. . .


	5. Chapter 5: Getting to know you

The darkness engulfed the hallway, no moonlight to shine through the windows only a few scattered candles poorly illuminated the hallway. Strong hazel eyes scanned the hallway, not bothered by the darkness but simply willed forward to reach the end. The prize was so close, silent feet quickly shorten the distance towards the exit of the hallway and after that the back entrance of the mansion was simply a few meters away.

Riven smiled, her dance lessons though boring and tedious certainly made her light on her feet and a graceful being. She grudgingly admitted that it had helped her with swordsmanship but her admittance to it only reached to her thoughts, which by contrast was a feat in itself. She quickly made it towards the end of the hallway and pulled herself down towards the bottom, not willing to risk making any noise descending down the stairway. She made a soft thud as she landed on the ground and quickly moved towards the back entrance.

The door opened a fresh breeze greeted Riven as she stepped outside, but something wasn't right and instantly her hand reached towards her sword on her back. Her arm was blocked expertly and with sudden force she was spun around and a forearm shoved its way towards her throat. Fiery Hazel eyes stared into Riven's own cold Hazel eyes. Her brother's white hair softly whipped around the cool breeze while Riven's shorten white hair did not.

"Honestly, I should have kept the dogs," Her brother said, his eyes never leaving and his forearm stayed firmly in its position. "Actually if I trusted the dogs I most likely would have found them gagged somewhere," her brother added.

"Hmph," was all Riven could muster to say to her brother.

His eyes squinted and as if his eyes were knives he tried to cut deep into Riven's mind and find the answers to his unspoken questions. "The next patrol won't be around for another ten minutes and the Military Recruitment will remain open until tomorrow. Though I would be wary of some of the muscle heads in there, no manners they have," her brother simply said, releasing her.

Riven looked dumbfounded but quickly pulled herself together and slowly walked around her brother, unsure of what to say Riven stepped in closer to him and embraced him once more, and perhaps final time. "I love you brother, may you grow strong." Riven said, inclining her head right next to her brother's neck.

"I love you as well sister of mine, may your blade never bend away from your heart." Raven said, he turned his head slightly and planted a soft kiss on Riven's forward and with that their embraced ended and Riven quickly moved towards the garden of the mansion.

- Months after the end of the Ionian War -

Fate indeed was cruel, or rather Fate never had much to do with destiny or fairness. The unrelenting sun blazed high up in the sky, the warmest day that all of Runerata had ever felt before. Heavy footsteps dragged along a pathway through a forest. Shade was everywhere, but the lone traveler refused to allow even the smallest of comforts and continued to walk underneath the hot sun.

_Only the strong survive, only the strong survive _ Thoughts passed through the traveler, trying desperately to either justify her past or simply come to terms with the atrocity that was committed not only to her but to the countless of soldiers that followed her into battle. Life knew nothing of what was fair and just, and so far the traveler simply thought that the life today only knew how to offer death.

As if an entirety walking the traveler made it to her destination, the doors to the Institution of War. The traveler pulled down her hood and cowl, her tan face shown through and her hazel eyes stared deeply into the doors itself. Riven walked in, her hilt of a broken blade, the only weapon she held, swayed slightly with each step she took into the Institute of War. Judgment was to come to all that entered these doors, and for once Riven felt no fear stepping into another institution of war.

The Institute, by contrast, was vastly different than was Riven had imagine. Being trained in Noxian barracks for years certainly had brought her expectations for anything grand rather low. Inside now, it felt and looked completely different than what she would call "Institute of War" and more of "peace" than anything else. Which primarily this was the reason such organization was created, its purpose was to create peace and settle engagements here.

Riven moved, her feet moving softly now, she hardly wished to attract the attention of the other, "Champions" so they were called. She stalked further towards the shadows of the buildings, her eyes though caught a flutter of some sort of cloth, _deep color of purple? _Riven mused but as quickly as she spotted it the flutter of cloth disappeared back into the shadows.

She quickly made her way across the market district and into the apartments built for the champions that choose to make their residence in the Institution instead of the wilderness that encompassed a majority of what the Institution owns. Riven moved quietly into the building, she remembered that her room was on the first floor, down the hall fourth door to her left. The hallway was empty, rather it was deathly quiet. She didn't mind, she actually preferred the solitude for the time being. Riven slowly opened her door, scanning the room and with caution she walked in.

Her room was simple enough, single bed, single furniture and decent size closet. Perhaps it might had been subpar to most people but Riven simply hoped for a bed. This was one luxury she allowed herself to enjoy. Her torments of the past never allowed for quality sleep. Her hazel eyes targeted her bed and her body simply fell ontop of the bed, clothes and all. A small yelp startled Riven as she bolted right up once more. Something cried out and a moment later a furry thing with a hat and goggles stood on her bed. Riven gave the, yordel yes that was what they were called, a wide eye stare. "Um" was all Riven said.

"Oh, sorry Miss Riven. I am Captain Teemo! Here to simply alert you of any matches that the others might not have told you about." Teemo said cheerfully.

Riven tilted her head slightly, not sure of what to make out of this intrusion of privacy. "Do I have a match Captain?" Riven asked.

Teemo was taken aback and twiddled his fingers a bit, "Ah no, but I just wanted to introduce myself to you. You didn't seem to want to meet others so I thought I should meet you instead. Well I guess I should go now," Teemo said, he quickly jumped off the bed and scampered towards the door. He turned his head around and offered a smile to Riven and to her surprise Riven gave him a fait smile.

Riven could not believe the life around her, it felt rather surreal. She refrained from visiting her Noxian brethren, but that is not to say she chosen Demacian company either. She was certain that the Ionains would most certainly detest an exile such as her, perhaps the only the group that harbored no ill intentions were the yordels. But their small doors and housing made exchanges with them quite difficult at times.

A small sigh escaped her lips, already a week has gone by and already she had won several matches. Though she could not take all the credit for her wins, experience summoners matter greatly in League Matches, they understand the mechanics and concepts as well as strategy to fully utilize her skills as well as working as a team. Riven could not say much to the other champions she had fought alongside and against. All their actions were under the control of the Summoners, and regardless of which country or nation or city they fight for, the champions have no say in when or where they fight. Usually.

A cold shiver ran across her spine, Riven twisted her body around and noticed a dark presence, the Fallen Angel herself, Morgana. Her pure white eyes and dark wings, she was not of any warring factions but some supernatural being of higher cause and power. Riven could only but guess of what thoughts resided in the Fallen Angel's mind. Morgana turned her head quickly faced Riven, her gazed locked in with hers. As if reading her mind Morgana offered a smirk, then she turned back and continued walking. Riven took in a grasp of air, not realizing she was holding in her breath to begin with. There was something strange about that Morgana person, but it was not Riven's concern.

"Well, ain't it wounderfoul," a growl muttered.

Riven quickly turned around to face a dark furred creature, the creatue's red glowing eyes bore into Riven's own. It was the wolf man, Warwrick. Riven had no intention of meeting this dark creature of Noxus outside of the League of the match grounds. Riven simply huffed and turned around to walk away but then suddenly a large being blocked her path.

"Now, um- why don't you say hello?" A Skull asked, Riven recognized him as Sion. His intelligence was not something frightful but his sheer strength certainly made great minds stumble of how to confront such force.

"Because she believes to have ridden herself of Noxian blood, ain't it?" A muffled voice responded, Riven turned her head and her blood boiled at the sight of Singed.

"What do you three want?" Riven asked.

"Just want to say hello to the face of Noxian military? Or have you forgotten you were nominated to be the poster child of Noxus military! I mean even with your sudden leave of the army, I'm sure General Swain won't mind accepting you back," Singed responded. He did not bother to looked at Riven but causally leaned against the building they were all next to.

Riven shook her head, "Not going to happen, if you have forgotten already, you were the one that shot at your own forces, killing them with your chemical barrage. I have no interest of ever rejoining a General that orders the murder of his own troops." Riven spat back as her response.

A pair of claws rested on Riven's shoulder a breath filled with stench and decaying death flooded her breath. "Now, now, won't you let bygones be bygones? Because if you don't become an ally, you're my enemy and I have yet eaten today." Warwrick said as he licked his mouth revealing a set of nasty sharpen teeth.

Riven was hardly afraid, she twisted free from the Wolf's grasp and moved to face the three, "Now if you three are done tossing around your ego, I got places to go," Riven said, her voice strong and unwavering.

Sion scratched his skull with one of his massive fingers, as if considering what had just been said, "Um, you have a match?" Sion asked. Singed simply sighed in utter disbelief of his numbskull of an ally.

"No she does not, don't you remember the schedule matches? And if it was an unexpected selection our gracious Captain Teemo would alert us," Singed responded.

Riven scowled, not realizing that all three were below average intelligence. Before though either her or her three former comrades could say a word a dark purple cloak intervened and stood between Riven and the others.

"I would suggest leaving the woman, now. Before you three make me annoyed." A solemn voice said, and before Riven stood a cloaked being, his elongated bladed held by his right hand and the signature dark purple color now stood between her and the others. The Blade's Shadow was defending her. A Noxian defending her?

"De Couteau servant, this does not concern you, your services and reputation as the deadliest assassin speaks for yourself but you have no authority over us." Singed responded blatantly, undaunted by the appearance of the fierce man.

"Perhaps I have none, but Katarina does. Her title supersedes that of your authority, and I am simply an extension of her power. Now do as I say, or things will become . . . stabby." Talon responded, his voice dripping with so much malice even Riven shivered at the threat that wasn't even directed towards her.

The other three to their credit did not take a step back in fear, which Riven would have enjoyed witnessing, and the three simply waved their hands and walked away. Perhaps Warwrick and Sion were smarter than Riven had given them credit for. But it doesn't take a genius to recognize superior strength. _But not superior to my own _Riven mused.

"Thank you, Blade's Shadow." Riven said, not beyond the ability to be grateful.

Talon turned his head around and without a response he walked away. Riven gave a curious look at the Blade's Shadow, he was certainly a strange person then Riven had first thought he was. Riven sighed and quickly made her way towards another part of the Institution grounds. Perhaps the craziness of today could be washed away by the soothing waters of the lack nearby. Perhaps, but not likely.

A/N:

My aren't I a tardy? I am sorry :'( But at last I am done with Finals and now I am officially on break from College. Now I have the time to spend on my story. Now I shall continue this weekly and for the moment please excuse the grammar errors. And I lied, Talon did make an appearance before Chapter 6, well at least now I can write both now together as I originally plan. Of course though, I can't forgot the two cute Daughters of the General, Cass and Kata, though now I dare say they are no longer bundles of joy.

Comment, review, or simply enjoy reading. I appreciate any and all input and as it seems Kata and Talon pairings are winning the vote. ;)


	6. Chapter 6: Darkness in the Light

"No,"

"No what?"

"No,"

Katarina sighed as she walked over to the door, but stopped right in front of it without touching the handle. She turned her body to face her ever so protective assassin Talon, the man stood without his hood covering every detail of his face and he revealed his rather unkept hair. His eyes though, bore into that of Katarina's own emerald eyes. Another sigh escaped her lips, but this time she simply placed both hands on her hips.

"Talon, you honestly need to be more trust- actually no never mind. You need to trust me with my own safety," Katarina explained to Talon, Cass busied herself with her own thoughts as she sat on her couch. Her amused expression quietly indicating that she was deeply interested in their conversation.

"Because one scar isn't enough? That Crownguard does not deserve my trust nor my respect, I am going with you Katarina." Talon said fatly before turning around, ending the discussion.

Katarina silently fumed but opted not to fight him again, she had not met any harder headed men since well, since ever. She was sure Malphite would be envious of Talon's rock hard head. She shrugged and stalked out of the door and off to know Talon where's. Upon moments of silence Katarina stormed back into the room, as if a thought suddenly came across her mind.

Cass on the other hand gave Talon a bemused expression as Talon gave a curious glance towards Cass, which she simply raised both her hands. Talon turned back towards Katarina and raised his eyebrows and gestured for her to speak her mind.

"What became of the Exile? I heard from a little birdy that some interesting interactions happened today," Katarina asked.

Talon gave Cass a sideways glance, "More like a little snaky," Talon muttered, Cass forced down a chuckle, she couldn't force down the chuckle. "Singed, Warwrick, and Sion had made it upon themselves to become Noxus welcoming committee. Riven handled them handily and that was that," Talon said, quietly placing on his hood once more.

Katarina gave him a look of disbelief if not annoyance, "And you had no hand of how Riven handled them handily?" Katarina asked. Cass made a small quip about "hands" under her breath, her forked tongue sticking out between giggles.

Talon remained calm, thankful he placed his hood back on, masking most of his emotions except those revealed in his voice. "I, perhaps, encouraged the three to back off," Talon responded.

Katarina crossed her arms over her chest and gave a huff, "You should have let her get bullied by Swain's cronies. She'll dislike Swain even more," Katarina said.

"She would most likely sway to our side since I demonstrated help," Talon added.

"Pah-lease, anyways if we are to make it to our meeting with the Crownguards and Prince Jarven V we best leave in five minutes, I'll meet you outside at the plaza." With that Katarina left without further word.

It was hardly big news that Katarina was of no support of General Swain, but she respected strength wherever it lies and with who. But she was still looking for her missing father and somehow Katarina mused that General Swain knew more about the corruption of Noxus High Command than he was letting on. Upon further inquiries of the Lady Deceiver LaBlanc the entire De Couteau household became curious of this LaBlanc. Hush voices of an organization called "The Black Rose" made it to the ears of Katarina and there were certain aspects of Noxus diplomacy that could not be settled with strength alone. Knives were needed.

"I think you should bring white roses next time," Cass suggested as she slithered off of her coach and approached Talon slowly. Talon in return simply gave her a look of disbelief and sighed. "What? She'll not accept and I'll keep them, a win-win situation for me," Cass added, her smile growing ever so.

"And she'll castrate me. Now please Cass, I'm going to the plaza, since I doubt I'll be able to bring my favorite blade I got nothing else to prepare for this meeting," Talon said as he walked towards the door.

"You have a favorite blade?" Cass asked, she never thought that Talon was a possessive person and felt no attachment to his blades, mostly.

"The blade that slits the throat of Garen Crownguard," Talon said dryly as he continued walking outside of the room. As the door closed Cass shook her disapprovingly and slithered back to her coach.

Katarina impatiently tapped her foot as she waited for Talon to reach the plaza. Around her stood a few other Champions, some barely worth for her take notice of, a man hovering simply floated in silent meditation as Katarina shot glares at his direction. She detested that man, he neither represents Noxus or any other enemy Nation but the fact he was her counter in her lane frustrated her to no end. _All thanks to the Void, such a nuisance the Void _Katarina thought bitterly, her glares were cut short as a purple cloaked figure stood between her and the floating man.

"Finally Talon, now please behave yourself as we proceed with our meeting," Katarina ordered and to which Talon scoffed indicating he needed not to be told to behave, "Oh and both Crownguards will be attending along with the Prince," Katarina added as she walked along side Talon.

Talon gave a visible shudder, the sheer peppiness and cheerfulness of Lux Crownguard would drive Talon nearly mad. He shrugged as he continued walking forward, barely taking much care of his surroundings. The first few weeks gave him enough insurance that no Champion under the care of the League will perish in here, hurt yes, but no death. Very few Champions, outside of Noxus, wish for blood outside of the battle fields. In all reality, Noxus has the deadliest fighters, warriors, soldiers and casters of all League. Perhaps a tad arrogant for such claim but not farfetched. Demacians restrict themselves far too much with their code of honor and righteousness, others have their sense of morals and laws that forbids any action of murder. Noxus on the other hand simply strive for strength and the ability to crush one enemy.

The meeting room was inside one of the more grand houses provided by the Institution, and with a hefty sum from Prince Jarven V did help, to which Katarina simply raised her eyebrow by the sheer size of the place. Talon simply rolled his eyes, the gardens around the home was simply grass and the windows were all covered by curtains. The house itself seemed to be much like a castle, if not half the size of what one would expect a normal size castle should be. Possibly even less.

Katarina walked, Talon following closely acting as her shadow practically. No servants, no butlers, simply an empty room with a table and several chairs around it. It seems the Crownguards did not want their Noxus company to roam their home. Lux Crownguard was the first to stand up and greet them both, she gave a pretty smile and shook Katarina's hand and while Talon refused to outstretch his hand but Lux still gave a smile simply accepted Talon's nod. She gave him a wink before sitting down and wondered if that was a tad bit flirtatious. Prince Jarvan himself stood up before sitting back down, bowing his head towards Katarina and simply nodded towards Talon's direction.

"Garen Crownguard has left for Demacia for some urgent business," Jarvan began, he turned his attention to Katarina, ", so what is it you wished to talk to us about?"

"Much of Noxus High Command has been cut down to size, an exact size that I believe General Swain chose. Not surprising to say the least, but that is not the point of this meeting, as you know Noxus has been low key ever since the last war and I would be much _happy_ if Demacia would not interfere with Noxus politics," Katarina explained.

Jarvan gave her a questioningly look, unsure of to respond, "Ah, yes. I'm sure you won't have any issue with our interference, but if you require assistance please do not come to us. I do believe Noxus could become something better, but I know you Katarina and from what I have seen I am not sure if you are the right person to lead Noxus," Jarvan responded, his voice stern and eyes firm.

Katarina offered a smirk before quietly standing up, "Well Prince, I pray you have a long reign. It seems we will take our leave. Talon," Katarina said before turning and Talon following close like her shadow.

Talon offered a nod before turning back his head, possibly a wrong move to acknowledge such a bubbly person as Luxanna Crownguard but no matter now. The duel of assassins moved swiftly out and into the streets. With other champions in sight Katarina turned her head towards Talon, her emerald eyes shining in the sunlight.

"We need information on this, Black Rose, Talon. Luxanna Crownguard was the one that gathered all the intel for Demacia military, so I need you to infiltrate and gather whatever information you can get from her." Katarina said, rather ordered.

Moments passed as both continued walking, Talon dipped his head downward and muttered darkly, "Of course."

A sigh escaped her lips, Riven clenched her eyes closed and dipped her head into the small pool. Her legs lying next to her as she laid on her side near the small pool. Her head resting on her arm as it laid limp over the pool. Her hair still in a bun but her bangs covered most of her vision. She blew air from her mouth to remove the pesky hair and sighed again when it was all in vain.

Her sword was stuck in the ground right behind the woman, The broken sword still remained a sense of awe, that the sword's hilt was so large that one simply wondered how the sword originally looked and how a woman of stature such as Riven could possibly wield such a weapon. Riven slowly stood up, her hand cradling her head. A small smile escaped her lips as she moved her fingers through her hair, it was truly a blissful feeling. Even though the movement was caused by her own hand it still delivered a sense of security. Fond memories filled her distraught mind, memories of her broth-

"Hi!" A loud voice broke through Riven's trance like state.

Riven snapped her head towards the source of the voice and her eyebrows raised to see a head with a bundle of shinning blonde hair. The woman, rather girl really, looked no more than the ripe age of twenty. Even younger, in Riven's mind. Riven stood up, not really ecstatic to meet another champion. But unlike Riven, the blonde girl was rather the exact opposite, bubbly and wearing a large smile that met her eyes. To say the least it was far better than the leers and looks that others have given her this past week.

"Hello," Riven responded back, her voice low but polite enough. Riven's fingers gently brushed the tip of her sword's hilt. Any indication that the blonde girl noticed Riven's fingers was not evident on her face, she still wore her large smile as if sincerely happy to see Riven.

"Hey! Name's Luxanna Crownguard, but you can just call me Lux," Lux said, her face positively glowing with each word escaping her lips.

Riven was slightly taken aback of who came to greet her, a Crownguard, possibly the last person she would had expected to express any certain emotion, besides that of hate, towards her. "My name is simply Riven," Riven responded.

"Alright, Simply Riven," Lux teased as she moved closer to her, as if Lux could not glow any brighter her laughter brought another shine to her face. Riven was impressed and a small smiled formed at the end of her mouth. This small light did not go unnoticed by Lux and she smiled even more. "You are one of the newly initiated champ? I have yet seen you fight in a League match, but don't worry it is just a phase. The darkchild had a similar issue, none took her serious enough due to being so tiny and cute," Lux said, rambling on.

Riven gave her her best intrigued look, certainly it was helpful to know more about others here but it was not something Riven wished to discuss and pass the rest of her evening on. "Ah yes, I'm not worries simply anxious a tad of when I receive my chance and not simply the chance to fight itself," Riven explained softly, her voice never reaching higher than that of a loud whisper.

Lux nodded and gestured for Riven to hold her hand, "Come on! Since you don't have a match and neither do I it seems we are due for some fun for today," Lux said, this time forcing her hand to grab Riven and she began to pull

Riven was first surprised by her urge to be with 'The Exile" and next Lux's strength. Certainly she was no Pantheon or Alistar but Lux deserved some credit for her own strength.

"Ahhh," Riven started, as she was pulled by Lux. Not sure how, but Lux took her response as an agreement for the plan for the reminder of Riven's even. Riven barely had enough to take hold on her hilt and the sword was yanked free by another pull from Lux. This was certainly going to be a strange day for Riven, rather really strange.


	7. Chapter 7: Time for a Match Making

The shadows never welcomed the light, and likewise the light never made room for shadows but both exist together, if unwillingly but with understanding that both were needed to exist. Talon moved alongside the west side, moving along the roof tops of stores and other buildings. Knowing the sun being low enough so that anyone that would look at the roof would be momentarily blinded by the sun and take no second thought to a shadow moving along the roofs.

Talon wanted to deal with Lux quickly, he wanted to nearly tell Katarina "no" with this mission first off, but if Lux did possess information that could lead to more information of the mission to find the General than it was up to Talon to suck it up and deal with it. He jumped to another building and quickly stalked and crouched towards the edge to see if he could find that girl. His instincts screamed at him to turn around and just as he did a blade whizzed past his head. Not a blade but a kamma and a very stylish and recognizable kamma as well. He smirked as he spotted his assailant.

"Well, how is our Noxus assassin?" a female voice said, dripping with malice. Talon turned around to see Akali, the Fist of Shadow, a top ninja and deadly assassin. Talon gave her a curious glance before stepping back one step.

"Put your weapons away," a deeper male voice said as Talon turned and saw a blue cloaked Ninja, Shen the Eye of Twilight. Talon mused that he must have walked into a Ninja party that he wasn't invited to, rather he would have delighted to slit any of their throats but not together and certainly not where he was bound to not kill any other champions.

"Ha, as if our enemy hasn't aimed his weapons on us already," Akali muttered as she reluctantly tucked away her blades.

"Regardless, he isn't our enemy today, or for the moment, is that correct Blade's Shadow?" Shen asked as he turned to face him.

Talon nodded his head as his response to the man, he did have his weapons ready in any case they were to attack to him and to that he was thankful that evidently was not the case. "I'll just take my leave," Talon said as he began to move past them. He had no wish to begin a battle of wit with them, especially with Akali and Shen.

"Afraid of us little assassin? Your blade not big enough?" Akali mocked. Shen refrained from saying anything and simply kept his gaze on Talon and remained silent.

"I don't have time to chat Ninja turtles," and with that Talon leaped towards the other building. He heard a swoosh of a blade just before he lept and grinned to himself as he continued to run along the roofs before finally leaping off and landing in a bush to continue his hunt on the ground. The shrubbery that Talon landed on protested and left its mark on Talon as the man began to pull out thorns from his cape.

"Akali, you must learn to calm yourself, it will do you know good if he continues to get a rise from you," Shen commentated as he began to walk away from the roof and head back to the streets.

"Well why can't we finish that man? Hasn't he done enough trouble and terrible deeds with the evil in him?" Akali asked him.

"I see that he has greatly been force into such life style and done great and terrible deeds that merit death but, he holds something else about him. I do not see Valoran balancing out with him gone, in fact I may see it disturbed and unbalance," Shen explained, "Enough of this, we must continue and findi Kennen. He said he told us he had one match and that was over an hour ago," Shen said.

"Probably mousing around," Akali muttered as she quickly followed Shen.

The fall towards the ground was not pleasant in the slightest but Talon would had rather fallen on top Zyra than engage those two Ninjas. He was not scared of them, of course not, but quite frankly he had seen enough of them to realize that he needed to respect their strength. _But that doesn't mean I have to respect anything else about them _he mused as he silently moved through another alley as he caught a small glimpse of glowing blonde hair, but his eyes tracked the woman walking next to the Crownguard. It was in fact Riven, a strange sight to Talon's eyes but he simply shrugged and simply viewed it as another variable that was needed to be removed before conducting his investigation. Of course he couldn't _remove _Riven but he needed her away from Lux before he began his mission.

"Hello Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome," A silky voice began, Talon to his credit didn't swing blindly behind at the unknown voice but casually turned around.

"Should have taken that cold shiver running down my spine as a warning to your presence Evelyn," Talon said, his face turning that into a bored expression.

"Ah, well isn't it nice to finally meet the great Talon, anyways Mr. Stabby I was just walking around when I happen to come across you, and your spying ability certainly needs some help," Evelyn said, her voice silky and sweet.

"Some of us can't stay invisible for a ludicrous amounts of time, as well as some advice for you," Talon started.

"Oh, some advice more me?" Evelyn asked as she batted her eyelashes at his direction.

"Mind your own business," Talon said fatly as he turned around to leave.

Evelyn pouted her lips out as she placed both her hands on her hips. The nerve of the man was certainly that made of steel, _A Jerk Steel _Evelyn thought as she continued to moving about her own business. Whatever that Noxian Assassin was after it hardly mattered to her anyways. _Now where is that Card shark _she mused silently, shifting back to her invisible form.

Talon began to wonder if he was growing soft, rather if he was losing his edge. Granted both Evelyn and Akali were indeed masters of sneaking up on someone and both could turn blasted invisible for a large amounts of time, much longer than Talon could ever hope to achieve, regardless he needed to work on his self-awareness as soon as he had the time. His eyes scanned the streets, shifting through several robed beings before finally finding Lux and Riven. _This will take a while _Talon mused as he saw Lux pull in a somewhat reluctant Riven into a fabric store. He shivered at the memory of one of his first assignments, taking care of the Du Couteau Sisters during their shopping sprees. It was a total nightmare for the younger Talon as he tortured himself stay awake as the younger Kata and Cass milled through every aisle in every store in every plaza in Noxus. He felt somewhat empathic towards Riven, knowing full well that look of reluctance she had. _Perhaps I should do something _Talon mused as he disguised himself within in the shadows and crowds.

"Riven!" Lux cried as she shifted through aisle after aisle of assortments of both fabrics and clothing. This store perhaps contained enough material to cloth an army, to cloth an army into either skirts or blouses of colorful colors and somewhat girly apparel.

Riven couldn't suppress the grin as she envision an entire battalion of harden soldiers dressed so ridiculous. Her amusement did not go unnoticed by her escort Lux and she apparently mistook her amusement of her own imagination as for her enjoyment of looking through aisles and aisles of what Riven thought was the same clothing.

"Well, we should look over here at this aisle, there are some fabulous fabric that would suit you quite well. Perhaps a dress for those formal events? Or just some everyday use," Lux said as she pulled Riven further into the abyss of clothes and fabric. Riven couldn't possibly imagine how one could be so obsessed with clothing, but then again she herself was obsessed over something once.

"Honestly Lux, I do not see the need for new clothing, I'm not one for social events or even the 'hanging out' every day kind either," Riven began, strange how one could fall into such bliss of unawareness, and at such places such as the Institute of War as the Champions around them were a constant reminder of why such as the place like this exist.

"Huh, strange, you are strange, I me-mean, not in a bad way," Lux started, "W-well, I don't hardly meet other kinds of people outside of who my brother wishes for me to see and those who I usually ally myself with in the Fields of Justice," Lux started, her words fumbling, trying to give Riven an excuse that probably was not needed.

"It's okay Lux, I don't mind the shopping or clothing, I don't mind at all, but," Riven began, noticing her younger companion in a mild distress, "I am more interested with the political affair of my home and hardly feel the need to remember such luxuries," Riven stated, her voice cool and calming.

"Oh, yeah, I just get tired of all this war. I though with the creation of the League of Legends and the Institute of War things would smooth out eventually but as far as I could tell things have gotten a lot muddier and nowhere near better," Lux responded, "And I thought you were an Exile? I don't mean any disrespect, but you still consider Noxus your home?"

Riven eyed the young Demacian, "I understand, entirely, when I joined the Military it wasn't because of some blood lust or craving for the glory of the battle field but for the sheer feeling of being important, of serving a larger purpose of believing that what you are doing is right," Riven said as she absent mindly flipped through a few fabrics, "Noxus is still my home, and I intend to reform my home into the image and idea I fought for during my time in the Military," Riven added.

Lux stayed silent, unsure of where to pick up their conversation, the awkward silence ensure before suddenly Riven's mouth quirked into a half smile as a laugh escaped from her lips. Lux smiled as well, sheepishly granted but thankful for the tension in the air had dissipated, "But I of course have my favorite color, it's dark blue and black," Riven said, diffusing the rest of the tension.

Lux shyly placed back the pink the fabric she was holding and giggled as her brain began to crank out several different ideas, "Well then, let me find you something nice to wear than Riven, something dark and blue to suit your taste," Lux said finally. Perhaps they could carve out a friendship after all, political strife would always be there but so could friendship and warmth of another friend as well. Just as the light and the shadows coexist together, so could pain and happiness exist together. It would though not the best outlook of any life but it would be foolhardy to believe in a life without pain, and likewise a life without happiness as well.

Talon shifted through the alley next to the fabric store and quietly waited for the duel he was following. He was a master assassin, but even his own patience was wearing dangerously thin. He remembered what had happen last time when his temper had gotten the better of him, and that was not an event he wanted to remember at the moment. Talon moved forward before hearing a bell ringing loudly into his ear. He grown inwardly, he knew that bell summoning sound, and how he detested such noise. The air around him began to glimmer to remind him to go into the Fields of Justice and await for the battle to begin.

Talon sighed and moved quickly to the starting spot, he moved quickly and easily through the streets before finally reaching the double doors of the Summoner's entrance into the Fields of Justice. The darken hallway illuminated nothing but the light at the end was enough for him to see enough to walk without concern. He stepped through the magical veil and opened his eyes to see a familiar sight of the Nexus and the Field. He turned around to see four other Champions already waiting for the match to begin.

"Why how nice for you to finally join us Talon," Warwrick greeted, his mouth quirked to what some might call a smile, or grin, regardless it unnerved Talon," As you see you were chosen to go up Top Lane against the Exile," He grinned his toothy grin and shifted away to go see to the shopkeeper.

His eyes widen, he was use to taking the middle lane against the mages of the League. Whoever chose him certainly must be one smart summoner, Talon scoffed, he had not met many and doubted this one was one of the few. Something tugged at his cloak and Talon turned around and looked down to see the Dark Child, she was taking his place in the middle lane. "Yes?" Talon asked, his voice not so cold.

"Mr. Talon, do you have any tips against the Champion I'm going to be facing?" Annie asked, her eyes burning with fire, to which Talon wondered if it was real fire. He shrugged, indicated he knew not who she was supposed to be facing, "It's Katarina," Annie inputted quickly.

Talon's eyes widen, he then grinned, "Don't get too close to your own minions, her blades bounce off those near the first minion she threw his minion to. Her gap closer will add some magic resist but what makes her deadly is the combination of her bouncing blades and twirl of blades. Once you are marked with her blade you are given extra magic damage." Talon explained, "Save your stuns if you see her ready to move in to attack you. Stun her and spend all your moves, this will make her back off and try to go for the kill. Bait her close to her and wait for Warwrick for the gank, stun her once and Warwrick will come in and assist you for the finishing move. Just control her in the lane and don't let her move around, if she steamrolls it'll be hightime for us to surrender," Talon added.

Annie nodded, taking the time to take in the advice, "Oh, alright. Well she sounds deadly, I was wondering and asked you cause well you are like her boyfriend," Annie explained she hugged her teddy bear closer to her as she waited for the game to start.

"I'm not her boyfriend," Talon started, he almost doubled over by that lone comment, "What gave you tha-" was as far as he went before the announcer sounded off the start of the match. Talon shook his head and quickly went to the shopkeeper to get his Long Sword for increased damage and two health potions. He was going to need to push his lane quickly, Katarina would certainly have a field day today and even though they respected one another's skill, she was always trying to see which of them was the better assassin. _Great, two women to worry about, one I have no clue of to fight against and the other I'm not sure I could win in a fight against _Talon sighed and moved towards his lane.

A/N: It's been awhile. Anyways, please enjoy reading! Soon to come hopefully! Oh to give you the actual teams for this match

Talon, Warwrick, Annie, Soraka, Caitlyn

Riven, Lee Sin, Katarina, Morgana (Support), Ashe


	8. Chapter 8: A time to think, A time to

The issue constantly arises when the problem cannot be solves quickly, rather a problem would be found to be hard press to fix the problem cannot be fixed. Riven sighed, she jogged to reach her lane and wondered why they choose her. It was an interesting pick, not her, but the chosen champion to go against her. Talon, the deadliest assassin Noxus has to offer, Riven smirked at the thought of crossing blades with the famous assassin. She wielded her blade up high and waited for her prey, she would not be easy to kill nor shall she go easy to someone that represented the shadows of Noxus. She felt something push passed her and to her annoyance it was the minions. She wondered how in the world these creatures lived, or if they even lived to begin with. It was almost unnerving how they pressed on forward with no care of the world but to just fight and die. Relentless, almost admirable their dedication of their urge to win and destroy the other Nexus, almost of course because well they seem quite possibly mindless and simply doing what they were created to do.

A sudden appearance of blades racked in front of Riven's eyes snapped her back to the game and her adversary appeared in front of her. Talon seemed more content to clear her small force of minions first instead of trying to injure Riven herself. An interesting choice, of course she too needed to kill of the minions to gain the currency used here in the Field of Justice. Her blade found the one of the first melee minions and quickly it dissipated into a plume of magic dust. Riven continued such mundane task of killing these senseless minions , but her mistake was soon aperient she was too keenly interested in the minions that she had forgotten to keep track of the Blade of Shadows. Her eyes quickly scanned around in effort to find the purple cloaked man. Before she could even blinked she was uncomfortably smacked right dab into the man as he had lept from the near bush. She tried to call upon one of her stuns but for some odd reason it was of no use and instantly Riven felt the man's blade cut into her and quickly Riven dashed out, her shield protecting her form the incoming rake of blades that Talon shot at her.

She smirked at his cleverness, he had a silence of some sort, but her smirk turned into a grimace as she noticed the trail of blood she was leaving. She frowned further but relaxed as the seemingly endless outpour of blood slowed and finally stopped. She sighed a small relief and looked forward to see the Blade's Shadow continuing to "farm up", the term people use here in the League, and Riven fingered her red health potion and gulped down the fluid with a small cough. She distasted the taste but felt herself being uplifted and rejuvenated greatly by the energy from the potion.

She flexed her fingers and gripped her sword tightly, she charged forwarded and slammed her sword down, she flipped forwarded and slammed it down harder and finally upon seeing her adversary in range she jumped higher and slammed straight down on him. Each slam created vast damage on the very ground they were using and the minions practically disintegrated under the power of Riven's strength. Talon though saw this coming and began to move out of the way but he was slow and got the tail end of the damage before being suddenly stunned and Talon growled at his immobility and Riven began to take pot shots at him with his sword as he tried his best to parry her attacks in his restricted state.

* * *

Having little options after the stun wore off Talon moved away, he sent a rake of blades to hopefully ward her away but she dashed forward a shield protected her from the damage of his blades. He frowned and instead of running away like some scared pup he leaped forward and attacked her. His silence worked to stop her from using any of her abilities and Talon thought he had her, he sent in a rake of blades and felt a sudden wash of energy as he realized he could use his finisher move on Riven. To his horror though his silence wore off and he was immobilized again and a sudden warning bell rang off his head as Annie had lost sight of Katarina. Talon groan and saw Kata appear from thin air right next to him. Her grin and blood thirsty eyes gave all the warning to Talon to move and he move he did. He used his only ability left to him, his ultimate. He through blades all around him and his body turned invisible as he ran towards the protection of his turret. His blades recollected and Talon patted himself down as he inched further away from the two women out for his blood. His scanned ahead of him but only saw Riven and his heart sank at the realization that Katarina was somewhere in the "Tri-bush", so cleverly nicked named, and he turned around to take note that his attacking minion wave was being hacked to pieces and soon Riven would be pushing into his turret and with little room to escape Talon was not sure what he should do. With Katarina he was sure she lurking and waiting for Riven to fully push her lane and Riven was simply trying to push her lane, not so much on killing him. Another bell sounded off on his head and his summoner was slightly relaxed and Talon realized that Warwrick and Annie were coming up to help him. _We just need to play this right. . . _Talon thought as he prepped himself for perhaps one the most important play of the game.

Talon muttered a curse as he walked towards the exit of the Fields of Justice. Warwrick looked quite ferocious and furious at their lost, aside from Annie skipping along with a smile on her face, the rest were in a foul mood. Talon rolled his shoulder, he grimaced at the pain shocking through his body at the simple motion and slowly made his way to the infirmary for post-Match Syndrome, where the body still reacts the pains even after a full heal. As he made his way he turned around to see Annie smiling at him, she seemed to be deciding on whether to say something or not, Talon sighed for he had little time for this. "Is there something you wanted to say Miss Annie?" Talon asked.

"Oh, yeah," Annie said, she squeezed her Teddy Bear Tibbers tightly, "Thank you for the advice! She was easy to handle but she kept on roaming all over the place. Sorry about that Mr. Talon," Annie responded.

Talon mused on her words and gave her a nod and walked towards his original destination. Annie was possibly the only Champion he would have a rather hard time lanning against. Of course, he had no control of what he wanted to do in the Fields. He grimaced at the thought and notion of having one of his blades targeting the little girl and removed those thoughts as he waited to be seen by one of the Institute's doctors.

* * *

Riven sighed a relief, thanking whatever forces that were watching over her that she at least made good showing in another match. Of course she had help from the others, but she had a small satisfaction of beating the notorious Blade's Shadow. She smirked at the memory of the man's first death. It was though a tad overkill, she was able to reassemble her sword through her own ki and along with, and with some disdain, help from Katarina they overcame Talon easily enough and each walked away healthy and ready to take on Annie the Dark Child and Warwrick that came to help Talon.

She relaxed her grip on her hilt and cautioning placed it back into a transporter. Their weapons, though theirs, were to be strictly be held until leaving the Field's perimeter before being returned to them. She walked past the exit and wait for her weapon to be brought to her, she thought it was a redundant idea of the League but who was she to argue against them anyways. She felt a cold presence from behind her and twisted quickly to see Katarina standing right in front of her.

"Exile," Katarina said, in a somewhat civil tone. Quite possibly it was all that she could muster from being disdainful towards the woman.

"Assassin," Riven replied, somewhat annoyed of being called what she was, so in return she called Katarina what she was.

"I wish to congratulate you on your victory over Talon, a fine job you did, even if a tad unrefined," Katarina started, her eyes offered little in the way of warmth. "You should learn to handle an assassin with clear intentions and give no indication of fear either," Katarina said.

"Talon seemed to be rather baffled with me and how to deal with me, I'm sure that the Blade's Shadow will know how to face me properly," Riven said, not quite sure what Katarina was trying to tell him.

"He's stubborn and would hardly change his ways of combat," Katarina said dismissively, "Until another time Exile," Katarina said as she moved away from Riven and quickly made her way to her home in the League.

Riven raised an eyebrow at their encounter, she felt the hilt of her blade and her body eased slightly as she turned around to walk towards her own room. Her thoughts though ran through what Katarina said from the start, "Handle an assassin with clear intentions. . . "Was Katarina trying to tell her something? Riven mused on the idea that she wanted Riven to explain her allegiance. But Riven had her loyalties clear to everyone hadn't she? Riven shook her head, Assassins and soldiers were always smashing heads among one another. She sighed and hoped that her next encounters with Noxians would be different, or non-existent if this wall she would face here at the League.

* * *

"She seems quite, interesting," Katarina began, her legs outstretched on her coach, Cass moving to and fro from their living room to their dining hall, leaving only Talon to listen to Katarina.

"Riven?" Talon asked, though clearly knowing exactly who she was talking about.

"Yes, yes, The Exile, she certainly knew how to handle you Talon dear, and perhaps she could even handle our issues in Noxus as well," Katarina hummed, she looked at her finger nails and her forehead creased ever so slightly, "You could have been easier with your blades, nearly broke my nail in our last match," Katarina added.

Talon gave her a smug look, "Of course my Queen, "his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Perhaps, get General Swain along with LaBlanc from our search for your father, but we also need to worry more of the campaign General Swain wishes to lead, and I do believe he sets his eyes on-" Talon began but was swiftly interrupted by Cass.

"You we should hire a cook soon," Cass called out, she then quickly slithered away upon voicing her concern leaving the two with raised eyebrows.

"As I was saying," Talon said, clearing his throat.

"Enough, General Swain could call war on the Void for all I care, I just want to find my father Talon," Katarina said, waving her hand to dismiss Talon.

"As you command Lady Katarina," Talon grounded out. He shook his head in disgust at Katarina's obliviousness to High General Swain, or rather her total indifference to the place she calls home. Perhaps she thinks once finding her father all things would be fixed after that point.

"Talon?" Katarina called out, her voice growing vastly softer than what it was moments ago. Talon turned his head from the window and gave Katarina a nod to show that he was listening. "Do you think we'll find my father?" Katarina asked, her eyes no longer displaying her blood lust or even her prideful nature but her inner child craving for her father's embrace of protection.

"He's alive, and we'll find him," Talon responded. Katarina nodded and moved away from her coach and walked towards the kitchen to confront her younger sister about the expenses of having a cook here at the League.

"Perhaps, we'll find him," Talon mused after seeing Katarina left, "And I'm sure if he's alive we'll find him, but General Swain certainly has his fingerprints all over his disappearance, I'm certain," Talon said to himself. With the Exile's appearance and more Noxian champions pouring into the League, Swain would make his move soon.

A/N: I must apologize for the long wait for another chapter. I am having trouble with some of my classes, by some I mean one, and by one I mean it feels like the world is crashing sometimes. But alas this Story is my way out of the frustration :) I hope you enjoy this chapter and enjoy reading other fabulous Stories here as well!


	9. Chapter 9: The Truth and the Dare

A/N: Sorry folks for the long wait. Got a new job and moving in a new Apartment, all that jazz, and found it hard to make time for my writing. Anywho, this is half filler, it was an idea I wanted to write as a short story a one-shot but I thought I'll just include it into here. Enjoy!

"Hm,"

"Hm?"

"Yes, hm," Marcus continued to rub his chin thoughtfully, his eyes gazing across his vast yards. Each area expertly and artfully constructed to resemble several aspects of Valaron beauty. Such as it was the land was a delicacy and it had not been visited in such a long time. Marcus now gave a small smile as a thought came upon his mind, no he wouldn't dare break his promise but perhaps another delicacy was called for.

"Gather the servants, call for the cooks to prepare for a meal and ready the horses and carriage," Marcus ordered quickly, "And where is my newest assassin as well?" Marcus asked.

"I shall get everything ready sire," His Head Trainer said with a bow, "And the Blade's Shado-"

"Talon," Marcus interrupted.

The Head Trainer stopped and appeared a bit bewildered before composing himself quickly, "Ah, Talon, is currently somewhere in the Mansion," The Head Trainer gave a small bow as he turned to leave to conduct his listed instruction.

"I know you're there," Marcus said, after he waited a moment when his Head Trainer left his office. A sudden shift of the shadows from behind the desk and between the curtains moved towards Marcus, the shadow took form of a human and a dagger gave a small glint from the light pouring from the window. "Almost, almost," Marcus laughed deeply.

"The breathing?" Talon asked darkly, hiding his blade underneath his cloak as he approached his master and kneeled down in respect.

"Your smell boy," Marcus said, he raised a single eyebrow, "Peaches?" he asked.

Talon refused to answer as he simply shuffled his feet, "Yes," Talon nearly choked on his answer.

"Cass?"

A nod followed, Talon's head averted away from Marcus. Talon feeling a tad bit ashamed of such incident, he honestly could not recall how Marcus's daughters switched his soap with a peach soap bar without him knowing. His glare had gone unnoticed but a stifled laugh tore Talon's glare from the window to meet with Marcus's eyes once more.

"Anyways, I have a trip plan for my daughters and I, I wish to keep it small and such I feel this would be a perfect time to try out your more patient set of assassin skills." Marcus said, "And for your first test, go get the girls ready for the trip," Marcus said as he waved his hand.

Talon nodded and moved swiftly through the hallway of the house, the sun had barely began to rise and Talon mused that perhaps the girls should be awake, since it was already six in the morning it should be late enough for nearly each of them to be awake.

A thought struck his mind, he closed the distance to Katarina's door and with a smirk he opened the door as softly as possible. The room was still dark, the curtains shielding away the bright morning sun and Talon spotted Katarina's sleeping form. Payback would be sweet, and with that thought in mind Talon spread the curtains wide opened to allow the sun rays to pour into the room and taking a big breathe Talon shouted, "Good morning Katarina!"

A swoosh of a blade came at Talon but he caught the blade easily enough and with another smirk and wagged his finger at the puffy eye Katarina. Her eyes were shooting daggers towards Talon but the young boy knew she was no threat to his health currently. Another blade came at him and almost tauntingly he deflected the blade with the other. "Is this how you treat every servant that comes to wake you up?" Talon asked, turning his head to look around the now illuminated room.

"No, just the special ones," Katarina spat out, "And what in the Void are you doing here?! It's like Six in the morning Talon!" Katarina protested her eyes never ceasing it's glare at Talon.

"It's actually seven," Talon countered, "And your father wants you and Cass ready for a trip of some kind," Talon added as he gave Katarina a dismissive wave, "Be ready in thirty minutes, you know how your father is for lateness," Talon added.

Katarina simply puffed her lips and stuck her tongue out at Talon's back as he left.

Talon walked briskly towards Cass's room, which was right next door. Of course next door in this mansion was like a few meters between rooms. He mused on how to approach the younger sister, she too needed a form of payback. He still thought as he finally approached the door, he slowly opened the door and quietly moved inside the room. As Katarina's, the room was dark and the curtain held away the sun's light from the owner of the room. Cass's sleeping form was on her bed and Talon slowly approached the curtains as well, intending to do the exact same thing to Cass as he did to Katarina. His hands held the curtains, he smirked but then he felt something soft hit the back of his body. He quickly turned around to find Cass wide awake and with a smile of supreme arrogance, "Got you," Cass simply said.

Talon sighed, perhaps it was the lack of sharpen edges of the pillow that did not alert Talon of danger but regardless he offered a small smile. "Alright, you did," Talon said, "Anyways, your Father wants you to be ready for a trip in thirty minutes," Talon said as he turned around to walk out of the room.

"Where?!" Cass's small voice squeaked out.

"I don't know," Talon responded as he turned around to face Cass from the door.

"Will you be coming?"

"Of course," Talon said as he turned around and headed for his own room.

Cass's own face lit up with a smile and she giggled happily as she began to ready herself for this 'trip' her father wanted them all to go on.

If one could say the carriage ride to Marcus's 'special' place was lively and entertaining would be considered liar. Talon sat uncomfortably next to Katarina, who seemed either afraid of the window and what lies outside for she was sitting a tad too close for Talon's comfort. Cassiopeia was content enough on leaning against her father's side as she slept during the ride. A sudden stop of the carriage sent Cassiopeia to wake up with a sudden surprise and Katarina was jolted from her thoughts.

A shrouded figure loomed over to the window by Katarina's side and startled the young girl to shift and shove closer to Talon. Talon raised an eyebrow, seeing that the figure was nothing more but a Noxian foot soldier. Marcus inclined his head forward and stared into the eyes of the man, the man for his credit remained still and not shrink back, "There's small detour that carriages must take, I apologize General," The soldier explained quickly.

Marcus gave the soldier a salute and the carriage once again began to move, Cassiopeia in her sleep haze yawned and leaned on her father's arm once more. Katarina remained where she was, either embarrassed to move or not Talon gave her a small shake to indicate the closeness of their bodies. As if her regal side turned on her head turned up and gave Talon a small defiant look before shifting a few centimeters only.

The journey remained mostly silent, aside from the occasional yawn from the three non-sleeping members in the carriages the rest of the ride remained rather uneventful. The carriage finally began to slow and even before Marcus had time to utter a single word Katarina bolted from the door faster than Talon's one eyes could track. The rest moved out slowly, Marcus softly woke Cassiopeia, her hands rubbing her eyes as she yawned and took in the scenery around her.

Marcus's special place was indeed special, it contained perhaps nothing of the likes Talon had ever seen before. Sure the gardens back home had beauty of its own, which he would never admit to anybody, but this place was something else. Several miles of simply grass and trees of all sorts, a large stone wall created a place for other plants but what it different was the structures that came out of the stone wall. Manmade water falls, Gardens on top of garden, three small rivers flowing around the place and all connecting to a single pool of water near the middle of the place.

Talon raised an eyebrow at the architecture, he would certainly have some interesting vantage point from the top of the waterfall. He turned his head towards Marcus in time to see Katarina push past him to chase after Cass. He glared at Katarina's back but a stiff hand forced him to look up and see the towering figure of Marcus. "Go ahead, inspect the area," with that he move towards his family.

Talon mused and his legs propelled his body towards the nearest stone structure, his hands reached out for the stones sticking out of the stone structure in some sort of pattern. It took a matter of seconds for Talon to realize that the patterns were specially made to be climbed quickly in only one single matter, possibly to out maneuver others if the others are unfamiliar with the terrain. Upon reaching the top he knelt down and scanned the area, his eyes gazed the several acres of land of plant life and nature. The sunlight glittering down upon them and giving the whole place, even the water, a sense of life and awe. It was perhaps a spectacular sight seen from so high from the ground.

He looked further, being able to identify the gates and the walls with some eye straining moments. Shifting his position he jumped towards his left and grabbed hold of the nearby tree branch, swinging with his arms he launched forward and landed on a lower branch with both his feet and kept his stance. Eyeing the surrounding area, inhaling the air around him. His eyes detected a glitter and with barely a moment to dodge he raised his hand instead and caught a dull dagger. Talon raised an eyebrow and targeted the being responsible for the action. Dropping down from the lower branch Talon landed hard on the floor and with a small grunt he glared at Katarina, already knowing her excuses for throwing things at him. By God Talon wondered if she was going to be the end of him one day, he opened his mouth to protest Katarina's behavior when she was in earshot but a body lunged from the shadows and caught off guard Talon fell forward as the sound of giggles emitted from behind him. He knew both of these girls would be the end of him soon.

"Tag you're it!" Cass cried happily, and with a nagging finger she added, "And no tag backs!" A burst of giggles quickly followed in response to Talon's somewhat annoyed face.

"Well. . . .

"And that's my most unrelated story of violence that involved everyone," Talon muttered as he glared at the white haired woman in front of him.

Trying to stifle a laughter but utter failing Riven covered it up with her hand covering her mouth. It was futile to resist her laughter, after a moment she nodded once, "Well Mr. Stabby, what happened next? Anything else?" Riven asked.

"I thought this game only allowed one question per turn per player, you yourself stated these rules," Talon replied quickly and annoyingly.

Riven rolled her eyes, amused that she actually was able to convince the man in front of her for a 'talk' and even further surprised that he agreed to play "Truth or Dare" with her. Well to be frank he was only taking the "Truth" option every turn and Riven had already figured out that asking Talon to "Dare" her to do something was helpless beyond belief. The man had no imagination, well creative and fun imagination at least. Riven was sure he was creative with knives and stabbing things.

"Well, I say I have had enough of this game already," Talon muttered rather loudly, forcing another chocked down laughter from Riven. Unrealistic that such a soldier of Riven's standing could be tearing up due to her laughter.

"Oh come now," Riven teased, pointing her finger toward's Talon's chest, quite muscular she might add and well-toned since we are discussing how well-er, Riven shook her head to remove the thoughts as if they were just some dust in her eyes, "It's your turn now, truth or dare?" Riven prompted.

"Oh fine after you take your next turn we are done playing these 'games' and now we can start discussing of why I came here, or the matter of fact, why Katarina had asked me to come instead," Talon growled, "Truth for you," Talon started, "How old were you when you first held a sword?" Talon asked quickly.

"Two," Riven replied happily, this cause Talon to raise an eyebrow but shrugged anyways, "Now my turn," Riven said, placing her hand underneath her chin, already she basically been getting him to reveal some interesting, if not downright hilarious, information. But now she had another amusing idea, "Next weekend there is that huge Summoner's Celebration, where the grandest Summoners converge together in honor of the grandest of them all and most skilled, of course we the Champions are welcomed to join the festivities that soon follow the ceremony," Riven explained.

"Yes, yes, I know all this Exile, I've been in the League much longer than you," Talon spat out quite coldly.

Riven gave the man a short glare but it was replaced with a mischievous smirk and glint in her eye. Talon became unsettled and somewhat wondered if he had made the wrong choice of ever agreeing of playing this ridicules game.

"I want you to bring a date to the celebration Talon," Riven ordered, "I dare you to bring a date to the Celebration, someone none expect of you to bring as a date," Riven added, her smirk growing ever so large.

To say the least Riven was disappointed in the reaction of Talon, or really the lack there of. He remained a quite passive face but inside his mind has yet caught up with significance of Riven's spoken words. Blinking a few times Talon finally muttered out, "What?" His face contorted in utter confusion at such request.

"Exactly that, bring a date to the Festival, nothing else," Riven said innocently enough. Perhaps forcing the man to conduct two completely absurd out of character actions was a tad too much.

"Fine, can't say I'm a cheater," Talon said gruffly, "I'm assuming you'll be there to testify I came through indeed?" Talon asked.

"Of course," Riven responded.

"Well then fine, and what of the account of your story?" Talon asked, "The very reason of why I came here?" Talon asked.

Riven gave a small gesture, "My account of what?" She inferred.

"The Ionion War," Talon responded, "I want to know what else High Command was intended of looking for in there," Talon added.

Riven gave a moment to herself, her eyes drifted away as flashes of the horrid moment of explosions erupting all around her, enemy and friend alike withering in pain and horror as the chemicals burned though their ski- "Uh," Riven stuttered, "Ah what else? Noxian was to dominate and strut their strength, us soldiers are on a need to know basis if we were trying to capture a certain secret cult or anything, I would have thought you Assassins would know more of such plans from High Command," Riven responded.

Talon shook his head, "I was away on another mission under the orders of General Marcus, no, what I want to know is of your plans Riven, what you did, what your objectives were and how things went. I simply wanted to see this Ionion War was handed from General Darkwill," Talon said. His eyes narrowing as he inclined his head forward.

Riven gave him a blank look and only offered a shrug, "I have papers and records of my orders if you wish to have them, I have no use of them as of late but what you ask probably won't give you much and if I can guess you want to see something deeper, something hidden, something else? Talon what you are looking for I suggest tread carefully," Riven offered, she leaned back on her chair, staring at her cup with mild interest.

Talon gave a single nod, "Those papers would be appreciated to Lady Katarina, perhaps if we may grab those papers today?" Talon said, already standing up.

Riven raised a single eyebrow and gave a small nod, "Sure, we neither have a match scheduled for us today," She stood up and gestured for Talon to follow her. "Though I am currently staying in the Women Dormitory here in the Inst-" Riven began as she turned her head to face Talon thus preventing her from seeing a small patch of gooey substance and took her balance away.

Readying for the harsh impact of the ground Riven clenched her eyes but after a moment she felt nothing but two things holding her up. She opened her eyes to see Talon holding her up and Riven offered a blush and Talon gave a disappointed stare. "You were a Top Soldi-"

""Watch out!" A booming voice declared and Talon felt his body launched as Gargas forced his way through Talon.

Talon unable to find his balance quickly enough landed softly on Riven and after a moment of complete stunned silence Talon found his wits first and stood up. Riven though was all too stunned at the sudden pressure of another body (Alive and not bleeding with her own sword wrenched through the body) on top of her even so briefly. She found her own way to her feet, seeing that either Talon was too embarrassed to offer help of just like her, was stunned as well.

"Top assassin?" Riven smirked, "Huh, could have fooled me," Riven added as she slapped Talon's shoulder hard and gestured for him to follow.

Talon for all his might and bravado silently followed behind Riven and thought to himself that Katarina and Cass owe him quite a bit after this meeting with the Exile has concluded.


End file.
